1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of refrigerators and, more particularly, to a refrigerator incorporating a food product management system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Relying on refrigeration to prevent food spoilage is widely known in the art. In order to further prevent, or at least slow, food spoilage, most consumers store food stuffs in air-tight containers or wrapped in plastic. Unfortunately, over time, the contents of the container or plastic wrap will still spoil. Food spoilage can be attributed, at least in many circumstances, to a consumer forgetting the date on which a particular container was placed in the refrigerator and therefore failing to consume the food prior to spoiling.
In order to enable better tracking of stored foodstuffs, there are several devices available to consumers. These devices range from simple indicators or timers to more complex computerized systems. In one example, a dial indicator is provided on a container lid. The dial indicator enables a consumer to establish a date, e.g., month/day, that the foodstuff was placed into the container and refrigerated. Alternatively, the consumer can set a date that the foodstuff is expected to expire. In another example, a timer having an LCD display is attached to a container. The timer counts down lapsed days, hours and minutes. In yet another example, food items are provided with radio frequency identification (RFID) tags that are scanned by an RFID reader. The RFID reader forwards information obtained from the RFID tags to a console provided on the refrigerator which stores relevant information, such as food type, the date of refrigeration and an anticipated date of expiration.
Regardless of these prior proposed arrangements, there still exists a need for a food product management system that can easily and accurately track the shelf life of foodstuffs in a refrigerator. More specifically, there exists a need for a simple, low cost food monitoring and management system that requires little interaction from a consumer to set, monitor and read expiration information pertaining to particular food items stored in a refrigerator.